How Identity Plays a Part in 5 Stages of a Cyber Attack
Tenable, Thursday, May 22nd, 2025
While credential abuse is a primary initial access vector, identity compromise plays a key role in most stages of a cyber attack. Here's what you need to know - and how Tenable can help.
Identity compromise plays a pivotal role in how attackers move laterally through an organization. Credential abuse is the top initial access vector, implicated in 22% of breaches, according to the 2025 Verizon Data Breach Investigations Report, followed closely by vulnerability exploitation (20%). But identity compromise doesn't stop after initial access. It plays a key role in five stages of a cyber attack.
Understanding the following stages of an attack helps illuminate where identity becomes a threat vector:...